Meric the Tall
Meric the Tall (Born Meric Leafot) was a Halfling Thief, Pirate, mab enforcer and religious leader best known as one of the seven Lords of the Lady. Having known Marth since he was a child in Soddah Maric was one of Marth's oldest friends and liutenents. He was known for his expert and ruthless handling of the criminal side of the Church's buisness as well as his frequent dealing as church representative with both Guile Schmidt and Percival Smiles. He is often called the 'Cardinal of Mud' for alledgedly being the least interested in the Lady or the Church as a religious institution, though those that wish to live long never say so to his face. Early Life Meric was born to a very poor family in the slums of Soddah. Many of his siblings died as children and his family always struggled to get by. Due to malnutrition he was short even by Halfling standards, just over a metre tall. This gained him the moniker 'the tall', one he eventually began to wear with pride. Life in Soddah and Meeting Marth As children of his class often do Meric became involved with organised crime at a young age. Initially as a messenger, he soon showed an aptitude for theft and became known for his ability to sneak into heavy security facilities with ease. He also developed an utter fearlessness, developing a reputation for picking fights with men several times his size and often winning. When he was 17 he met the young Marth Herrenyonen. Even then he was struck by the young teifling's charisma and likeability, soon taking him under his wing and introducing him to the local underworld as well as teaching him some tricks of the trade. They became fast friends, well known throughout the Soddah underworld for being inseperable and equally mischievous. Following the destruction of Soddah the two were seperated with Marth heading to Ashkelon and Meric heading south, to Oakport. Move to Ashkelon Meric worked as a smalltime theif in Oakport for almost half a year before recieving word from Marth that he should go to Ashkelon. So he did and to his suprise he found Marth at the head of a church there, preaching the religion of the Lady. Aparently moved by Marth's passion and faith he worked with Guumbar Frent, Diesa Bearsbane and Retyn Perlufo to spread the church as far as they could among Ashkelon's criminal class, with great success. While it is impossible to say how many were moved by Marth's proseletysing, it was a very well-run and fair organisation (by organised crime standards) and they won over the majority of criminals in the city. However they lost a great deal of that support after Marth dissapeared and they were exiled from the city. Along with Guumbar Frent and what was left of the underworld of the church, Meric went to Septice where he hoped he could build a criminal empire anew, under Marth's name. Exile to Septice Like most of the church Meric believed Marth to be dead after his long dissapearence. After moving to Septice he used the church as a front for his criminal activities, unaware that there were already two other seperate organisations now using the church's name. He worked with Guumbar Frenr, and later recuited Diesa Bearsbane, to greatly grow his criminal influence. He was utterly fearless and an adept manager and even managed to extend his reach past the borders of Septice, with contacts as far as Bardaria. Of course his activites soon attracted the attention of Guile Scmidt and the Hand, the rulers of Septice. He was able to keep his organisation relatively seperate from Schmit, though when he did interfere it was much to Meric's chagrin. After Guumbar's death Meric became increasingly detached from the world, becoming more unpredictable and violent. Fortunately when Marth returned he was so overjoyed that his friend was alive that he returned to his normal, less insane self. He integrated his organisation into the church willingly and accepted Marth's offer to become one of the Seven Cardinals. He organised the majority of the church's criminal operation, as Guumbar was dead and DIesa became less interested in that life after Marth's return, and continued as the church's representative in the criminal underworld. Death